Google is working on a new desktop mode that’s very similar to Samsung’s DeX, allowing you to connect your Android phone to any external display and use it in new ways that will surprise you. In fact, it can function as a desktop operating system or as a computer, expanding your mobile usage possibilities beyond the usual. Now, it wants to offer you much more by working on a DeX-like desktop experience.
With Android 14 QPR3, Google introduced screen mirroring on the Google Pixel 8, which will also be seen on later devices. You can mirror your phone’s display to a new compatible display or project content if you want. With Android 15 QPR1, it wanted to go one step further by bringing desktop window display to Pixel tablets in the developer preview.
Your phone is a computer with Android’s ‘DeX mode’
Now, both experiences are combined with the desktop window on secondary displays. This new option can be seen in the developer preview of the Android 16 beta. We’ve seen how a Google Pixel 8 Pro connected to a laptop displays the Android taskbar with recent and pinned apps, access to the launcher, and three-button navigation on the right.
At the top, we find the time and status bar icons. Swiping down reveals quick settings and notifications in columns, as well as foldable and tablet-friendly options. Apps open in floating windows, which can be placed side by side, moved, or resized, with a touchpad and physical keyboard controls. It’s designed to facilitate multitasking and turn your phone into a computer, although it’s still a feature that’s unfinished and needs a lot of refinement. With the desktop window active, you can continue using your phone.
At the moment, we don’t know when these features will be released because it seems that Google is working on them but hasn’t confirmed them, and is also testing them. Android smartphones could offer a DeX-like experience, as we can see in Samsung phones that connect to a monitor and can be used as a computer, although there are doubts about Google’s intentions with this move or if it wants to go further with other devices. In any case, if this is the case, we can turn a new phone connected to a screen into a computer, although we will also need a keyboard or mouse.
With this new Google feature, you can use your phone while you’re out and about, and continue using it on a larger screen at home or at the office by connecting it to the screen to take advantage of desktop mode. This means that many people could even do without a computer because they’ll have everything. In any case, even though it offers this new experience, it may have its limitations or not be the same, but it’s a great advancement that you’ll enjoy on Android phones. Initially, it will be available on Google Pixels and should later reach other brands, although we believe it should be for very powerful or high-end models for a more optimal experience. We’ll keep you informed when we know more, since although it’s being tested right now, it probably won’t arrive until at least Android 17.
